The trademark challenge, brought by five individuals represented by national law firm Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, covered issues similar to those in a 1999 patent office ruling. The office also decided against the NFL in that case, but after a long appeals process a federal court ruled in 2008 that the "petitioners" who made the challenge did not have proper legal standing to file their petition because they had waited too long after becoming adults to challenge the trademark. Today's case involves new petitioners who were younger at the time of filing.